Deathmatch Tournament
by Legacy of Lupus
Summary: 100 years after the defeat of Moo, strange happenings occur. In the middle of all this, Cabalos, a Tiger of fire element, along with countless other monsters, is taken to an isle against their will to participate in a tournament.


„Fairness", that is a synonym for justice. It describes what is right and what is not, depending on the view. However, life does not know about that. In other words: Life just is not fair. I had to learn this lesson a little too soon. First of all, you need to know that my parents died early and since I had no siblings I was all alone. Humans without family were most likely raised by other humans, but that didn't count for me. I was a small Tiger puppy. "Tiger" is the name of a proud wolf-like species with horns, who are the top regarding to speed. Humans called us "monsters" and we never questioned it. There were countless kinds of monsters, not only Tigers. Neither human nor animal, some of them even looked like plants or were made of stone. Also, monsters could not think of a better name for themselves. Luckily I was born in a peaceful time, when monsters were accepted and not feared and hunted down by humans. Therefore we monsters were our only natural enemy.

My home was a deep cave of which I barely knew the inside as I had never really explored it. The cave lay within a forest where humans were rare to see. I spent most of my time guarding this place. I remember that fateful day, when I woke up only to see that, while being asleep, I had been taken to a weird place probably far away from what I called "home". Not knowing how I got there and with no clue where to go, I set off to explore my surroundings.

Comparing it with my home, it had just as much forest, with different kinds of plants I had never seen before. Though I often pretended to be an adult, I couldn't hold back in situations like that. Quickly, the curiosity of a child took hold of me. I wanted to know as much as possible about this place before I would think about how to leave. So far, it seemed like vacation to me. Soon I even forgot my responsibilities as a self-claimed guardian.Then I heard a familiar noise: The sound of moving water, but I couldn't tell whether it was the sea or a river, which I really hoped it to be. The only way to find out was to investigate this matter, so I went straight to the direction the sound came from. But I stopped before I could find the source of water I was looking for. That was the first time I saw him, that human.

It was one of these weird guys, wearing all black clothes and behaving like they were the devil himself in their endless longing for coolness, the least important thing on earth. I was glad when I saw that his coat, as black as his cotton pants, was not made out of fur. „After all, he can impossibly be that much of a bad guy", I whispered to myself. I forgot about the water, my new aim was to find out more about him first, so I slowly approached. There was a tiny chance that he knew something about our whereabouts.When I was just two or three steps away from the human, he turned around and before I could react I had his leather boot right in front of my face, just a few centimeters more and it would have hit my eyes. It was a shame that I had not seen this coming, it was not even very fast. Honestly, compared to a Tiger's average speed it was a joke. He seemed to be caring much about his safety - in other words: he was about to wet his pants. Of course, he was not as brave as he looked, but he was able to fight back if needed as his kick proved. I supposed he stopped it as he recognized that I did not intend to harm him.

I stepped back, just in case it was just luck not to have been hit at all. I sat down and looked at him, my eyes filled with curiosity in its purest form. His look was about the same, but it did not aim for my eyes, but for my forehead. Of course he was surprised to see me act like that, believing I was some strange kind of animal. Maybe he didn't know there weren't many animals around anymore. He put his leg down, calmed down a little as well, only to stare a little more. I countered it with a stare of my own and within only a few seconds, we ended up in sort of a staring contest. Who would be the first to look away? Whoever it would be, he just had to be the one answering questions. Finally, it was he who looked away first, so it was my turn. The moment I have been waiting for! I asked him three questions at once: „Who are you? What are you doing here? And where is this place?" It seemed that I did a mistake by just opening my mouth. He started staring at me again! Did I ask the wrong questions? But they were simple enough... However, he seemed a little confused. To be honest, he looked like he was suffering from amnesia. I was about to turn around and walk away, when he spoke - but it was not the answer I expected. In fact it was not even an answer. It was another question!

„You..." he mumbled, „You can talk?" For like a minute, I lost faith in the intelligence of humanity. He could impossibly have been one of the human species, the species who still ruled this weird world! „I was just about to ask you the same!", I replied, kind of annoyed. I found a second soul in this desolate place, in the middle of nowhere. But it was the stupidest creature on earth! Of course that was a stupid question! To even think that I, no, we, the Tigers, could not speak, insulted every single member of MY species! This conversation was senseless, so I went straight back to topic. „Answer my questions. First: Who are you?" I caught myself thinking that he would mess up with answering this question, but luckily, he did not. "I can't believe it… I'm talking to a wolf." "Answer!" He finally answered my question, short but satisfying. „Rhett." So this odd human had an odd name, odd clothes and an odd paranoia. On to the next question: „What are you doing here?" Obviously, this one was a little more difficult to answer, so I did not expect him to answer right now, but, oh surprise, he did! „I don't know. I remember being knocked out, but everything else is fuzzy." Now it was my turn to calm down. He was not responsible for this, he was yet another victim. Even though we had some great differences, like our bodies (and, of course the intelligence), we were just about the same.

I put the last question aside as I knew he could not answer it. „Analysis!", I started, not caring anything about his confused look. „We both were brought to this place against our will - we were kidnapped. We do not know why we were brought here or who brought us here. Also, we have no clue of our whereabouts. Is that correct?" The conversation increased in speed as he had no problems confirming my theory by nodding. „Now that you mentioned it, I remember being knocked out as well. And I do know that I was still guarding my home just yesterday, so we must have been kidnapped sometime between yesterday evening and this morning. Of coure not at the same time."

I got surprised again. The human put his right hand against his forehead, like they always do when they get a headache. "I'm just dreaming something weird, right? Oh well, and you're no help at all." he said. Did someone just reverse the world, including all its logic? The human, who was undisputed the stupid one here, made me look like an idiot! At least I knew that he was not dangerous, I also had a proof that my theory was correct. This human could not help me anymore, so I turned around and continued following the sound which would eventually lead me to water. I did not care about the human. There was no need for the two of us to go together. As far as I could tell, there was nothing in this place that would be of any harm to him. As for me: I got my claws, teeth and horns, so I would have no problems surviving here, if there was any aggressive being here. In addition to that, I could easily find myself something to eat and drink, I just had to make good use of my nose.

And I did: When I went through the bushes I noticed the scent of salt! I followed the scent until I found what I was not looking for. I felt the warm sand below my paws while I looked at the wide open sea. Unfortunately my theory got confirmed, I was on either an isle or a continent. This place had to be an isle as there would have been more than just me and a human if it was a continent. I was not sure whether it was completely surrounded by water or not, so I might still have been wrong, but I did not want to check it out, as I felt my stomach going on alert stage. In other words: I was starving. I put my head in a position as high as my anatomy allowed it and tried to find a smell besides the scent of the sea. It took a few minutes before I succeeded. But a voice called for me the moment I turned around to go and find my future meal, though it did not call my real name.

„Hey Pinky!" My deepest worry became truth: It was that intelligence lacking human named Rhett, who must had been following me all the time. The reason why he called me 'Pinky' was quite simple: My whole mane and part of the fur on my back were pink. Of all the colors in the world, I was given the most disgusting of all, the color which most male beings despite! It made me look female. Why, just why could it not be of pure white color like the fur on my legs, stomach and part of my neck? Something I could be proud of were my pitch-black horns. Their curved form made them look devilish, that is why they were called 'Evil Horns'. It was the only thing which I inherited from my father, the only thing we had in common.I sighed, showing my obvious displeasure in optic and acoustic form. „What do you want, human?", I asked, but I regretted talking to him the moment I finished my question. „Where ya goin'?" A wise question, filled with wise words - and his aim was even more obvious than my displeasure. „Why do you care?" I got bored standing on the same place. Also, I felt the emptiness of my stomach again, so I continued my search for food, the one and only path to satisfaction at the moment. „Dunno." Rhett answered a little late. I knew he planned to get himself one or two pieces of whatever I would find. „Forget it." I said, forcing my way back through the bushes, even through some thorny ones as I wanted to hurry up a little. „What?" he asked with some kind of an innocent look on his face, but unfortunately, without any problems following me further. „Go find something on your own." That was the last thing he would hear from me, at least until I got to eat.

I ignored his complains and concentrated on the scent. It felt like I would be wandering through this isle forever. No matter how far I proceeded, the source of the scent kept moving, always the same direction as me. The only chance I had was to increase in speed, which was one of my specialities. In an instant I started running at full speed. That was an easy way to get rid of the human as well. But something was wrong... I kept on running, but I could not get any closer to the target. And as that was not worse enough the human was still behind me. But he stood still, looking at me and, without any reason, smiling. But he had a point - I gave it one more try, but when I stopped I noticed that I was softly pushed back by something. Once again I stood next to the human, who bursted out laughing. Without noticing it, I have been pushed back like that for like a dozen times. Deeply embarrassed, I wished I could dig myself into the ground. But I came up with a much better idea!

I concentrated again, gathering the energy I needed to make him pay for every single laugh. My mouth got totally dried up temporarily, which was an annoying side effect, but also the signal that I could start. I spit it out, throwing a fire ball of small size into his direction. The human, still laughing, got hit on his torso and fell on his stupid back. He needed a moment to get back up and another moment to notice that his cloak had caught fire. I watched him unlitting the small flame and staring at the new hole. I loved to see him that angry and this feeling did not pass away when he shouted at me.„What was that for!" Well, that was the first good question I have heard from him. I remembered his special name for me, so I connected both within my answer. „Do not make fun of me, not even of my name, or you will regret it. Is that clear?" Sure, it was not enough to make him feel better, but - who cares? That was not what I intended. Finally I got some respect: He nodded once again and by that he seemed less stupid than before to me, so I thought we could start all over. Maybe we could get along? We were not that different after all. „I am Cabalos, son of Ruby and descendant of Tiger the great!" „Who cares?" „I do!" „Who else?" I quickly forgot about the 'maybe we could get along'-part. He still was the stupid human I met and I supposed he would not change so soon. Talking to him was still senseless and I got much better things to do: to find out why and how I got pushed back and eventually how to avoid it.

An isle which seemed to keep everyone from eating whatever lives or grows on it. Of course, that was just theory - one of many and I kept thinking of new ones. To Rhett, there did not seem anything strange about it. Did he have anything to do with it? Did he, by any chance, cause it? Maybe he was the kidnapper. If that was the case, he would have fooled me the whole time. But my little attack surprised him. If he was that much of a super-brain, who could create something like an anti-food barrier, who could even transport you over the sea without you noticing anything - and still he could not protect himself from such a weak attack as my fire ball was? That - was - just - impossible. Looking at him told me that he thought something similar. „No, I did not do it." Useless, trying to convince him that I was, well, on his side. But he answered „I know.", so he actually believed it! I put the thought aside that we could really get along, as I already thought it once and I got disappointed. So by refusing this thought I was on the safe side. „Why don't you give it a try?" With that I asked him to try and break through the barrier, but he shook his head. He knew as well as me that there was no way for us to get through. „You are smarter than you look." I was still a little upset because of him calling me 'Pinky' and paying him back only once was not enough. I had to provoke him several times from now on, maybe it would get better that way. One of us sure would feel better and of course that one would be me.

„Let us go." I said and went back. I wanted him to come along as I needed a foe that would have to endure my current mood and he was just perfect. Strangely enough, it did not seem to bother him at all. He became a good boy, following me everywhere and maybe he would obey just about any order fearing I could spit out a bigger fireball - luckily, he did not know that I could not and I would not be the one to tell him the truth about it. The relationship was clear, I was the master and he, well, the human. Originally it would be exactly the opposite. The human had to be the master and the monster the one obeying orders. Why should I care about who is obeying whose orders? I liked it that way! And somehow it was a totally new experience.

We went back to the beach and started exploring it. For some unknown reason I changed my mind and longed for the answer whether or not this was really an isle. It would need some time but I got plenty to spend. The starting point was a stone that looked a lot like a giant shell and I did not dare to check if there was something inside. The shell was almost two times bigger than me and I could easily imagine, if there was anything inside, that it would be even bigger. I and Rhett remained silent while going on along the beach, we both did not want to talk to each other. I decided to take a break at sunset as I wanted to take a look at it. And I would have enjoyed it if I would not have been that hungry! Rhett must have felt the same. I wanted to ask him - yeah, I did care a little about my foe by now - and turned around only to see that he was gone.

Great, he disappeared the moment when I changed my mind, when I was going to be a bit nicer to him. I had no chance to think about his reasons, nor did I have the chance to worry about him, as something bit my hind leg. I looked at the being who dared to do harm to me. It was some kind of weird bug with teeth and claws instead of feelers and legs, I knew this monster was called "worm". I tried to shake it off, which was not that difficult. It let go after the second try. I saw my chance and leaped on it, then hold it down with both of my forepaws and finished its life with a single bite. And so I finally got my meal ... as if! It turned to a black mystery disk hold up by roots, a "lost monster" as it was often called by humans. I knew this would be my fate as well if I did not manage to eat soon. But now was not the time to think about that! I stared at the stone tablet and wondered about the Worm's behaviour. For hundred years, no monster had hurt another without any reason. So the recent happening made no sense. The beach was not even its territory! Worms were supposed to live in forests.

First I got kidnapped, then I got pushed back by a mysterious force and now that. I was unable to think of a logic solution. Why did it attack me, why here and why now, not hours earlier? Did it wait for me to be alone? And where the heck did Rhett go? He could have warned me, I could have dodged the attack and my leg would not hurt like that. I depended on someone else's help - I hated to admit it, but I needed a human to take care of it. I was in a hurry, I felt the poison slowly aiming for every single vein of mine. How did I know? A Worm's teeth are covered with poison - that is common knowledge. But I had no clue where Rhett went and if I moved too much the poison would only spread faster through my body. There was no point in looking for him. If there was something I learned from our little tour, then it was that this isle was huge. He could be everywhere and I would be dead before I could find him. I found myself looking at the tablet once again. Maybe I would look like this in no time. The imagination of how it would feel crossed my mind, but it did not scare me at all. So many memories ... all of them combined together made up a nice tragedy called life.

A scream not of my own was my rescue. I recognized Rhett's voice and it was close! I got my weakened body up fast and I went even faster straight to where the scream came from. There he was, lying on the ground, unconscious. There were no tracks I could identify, but I prepared myself for yet another fight. I considered it instinct that I knew Rhett was not the type to faint that easily. He had obviously been attacked, but there was no trace of whoever did. I did not see him, nor did I hear or smell him. I approached further, still everything was quiet ... too quiet. „You cannot fool me!" I shouted into the darkness. „I know that you are still around!" But shouting did not help. Too late I noticed that the attacker was the darkness itself! It grew quickly and soon it completely surrounded me, losing no time to take advantage of this situation by beating me up. One hit after another, but I could not move, not even breath. I concentrated… I was planning on throwing a fire ball. It would surely burn it down to ashes, but I would not get hurt at all. I let it go but it did not get to hit my enemy! It flew through a hole that opened to let it through but rapidly closed after that. I could not get out another one, I needed more and my time was quickly running out. I would either die from the lack of oxygen or from the poison which was still in my body. Within this living darkness which tried to stifle me to death my horns and claws were of no use.

There was a loud noise, another hole opened and something strange flew in. I did not know what it was, but it looked like it was made of iron and - it worked well! The darkness passed away, I took a deep breath and recovered quickly. Rhett held something I had never seen before and pointed it into my direction. The iron thing that saved me - did he throw it? He had problems getting up. How pitiful, the almighty human. But why did I complain? I still lived and I should probably be a bit more thankful to him. Words of gratitude gathered within my mouth, yet I could not let them out. But what was that? Right behind Rhett, the darkness rose up again! And from a different perspective I could tell that darkness was just a black Jell, another monster in human-like liquid from. I moved towards it, Rhett rolled aside - and I stabbed it with my horns. Jells were quite weak in physical defense and I caught it by surprise as its attention was fully focused on Rhett. That was way too easy, but without Rhett I sure would have died. I watched the Jell turning into a lost monster, my second murder on this isle and the second in my whole life.

I turned around to Rhett, now everything seemed alright. But it was too late for me, I collapsed, the poison had beaten me. Before I closed my eyes I saw a mask floating in mid-air, probably a hallucination caused by the poison. I felt the cold earth, the cold wind, but my body temperature increased. At first it did not feel so bad, but then the heat was too much. My mouth was opening, I could not control it. Worse than that, something touched my neck and tongue at the same time and then the thing on my tongue went down my throat. A few minutes passed, nothing happened. All I could feel were heat and pain. But then the pain faded away. It was a miracle! However, the increased temperature remained.

Strange happenings filled this day, but the strangest of all was yet to come: I heard a male voice. Neither Rhett's voice, nor the voice of anyone else I knew, yet it was quite familiar. It said only one word, but I understood it clearly: „Come." Someone wanted me to come? But where to? I was barely able to open my eyes and I still could not move. Rhett sat down next to me, cleaning the thing which he had pointed at me some minutes ago. „Thanks." I did not believe that I actually had said it. I really owed him something for saving my life twice. But curiosity enchanted me: I wanted answers. And this time he definitely could answer, as he was involved from the beginning! „You disappeared... why?" „The thing you just killed ambushed me. Then you came and... well, you know the rest." „That thing in your hand - what is it?" „It's called a gun. You use it for long-ranged combat." „And the thing you threw?" „Threw? You don't know much about guns, do you? I shot at it using bullets - I suppose you've seen it. It got stuck somewhere in that ... jelly thing." „How did you know I was poisoned? I did not even tell you." „Well... I didn't. There was this voice, telling me to make you swallow the pill which fell from the sky seconds after. I know this sounds stupid but that's how it was!" „What about the mask?" „…What mask?" „You did not see it?" „There weren't any masks. You're imaging things."

On a small isle out in the sea, there was a proud Tiger and a human called Rhett who did get along at last! We had our differences at first and sure we would end up arguing about the most unimportant things again soon, but I was sure we would make it.. I would tell him some interesting details of my world in exchange for some details of his world. You guessed it - that was my last theory for today! There were no 'guns' around these days. Humans tend to defend themselves using their monsters as weapon and shield ... which often meant the monster would go out and fight bravely while the human looked for the best way to escape. This human was different, I knew it from the moment when we had first met.

The conversation was over now, the whole isle seemed to turn silent and we immediately fell asleep because we both were tired to death. I liked his warmth and to be honest I felt happy being with him. In an instant I was taken to another world - I had never seen it before, but I knew it had to be the world Rhett had come from. Of course, this did not really happen. It was only a dream ... or not? I remembered falling asleep. I did not allow my complex mind to discuss about whether it was really a dream or not. I did not care! I saw myself in a small, dark room with greyish walls. There was a bed, but it was broken. On the ground was something of dark blue color that felt like fur, but deep inside I knew it was not. There was a strange thing in here as well, It looked like a cube. The material the outside was made of was smooth. I looked at it and my reflection looked back at me. At least I knew the second material: glass! Just what was this thing good for? I started thinking about it and sat down, but I stood up fast again. I had placed my innocent bottom on another strange thing in square form, which caused light within the cube. Black and white dots appeared on the glass. When would this dream end? I did not know, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Something made me feel like touching the glass just once and I fulfilled myself that wish. When my paw pads touched the glass I had something like a vision. I saw Rhett in this room instead of me, staring at the cube. I moved back and I fell, deep and deeper...

I opened my eyes to see Rhett lying next to me with one of his arms on my back. Was this supposed to be a hug? I was back to reality and still tired, but I could not sleep anymore right now. I had seen Rhett in my dreams in this small room - was that really his world? I could imagine it that well though he had not told me anything about it yet? I had enough of these strange happenings! I wanted to live a normal life as normal as a pink wolf with Evil Horns can live and of course without any fighting! In short: All I wanted was to go home. Then I would guard it like I had always done before. No one would ever go there so I would not have to worry about defending my territory like a Worm. Did Rhett feel the same way again? Has he just been looking for a way home? If it was like that, then why did he not tell me? There were worlds between us... We did not know each other that well, but we lay as close as a just wedded human pair … though it was not love, but sympathy. Never ever would I give my love to a human. I preferred members of my own species, it was just more fun and that is how it was supposed to be. It was strange. I had been saved twice and I thought of such a thing! There were so many unanswered questions, which must have been the reason why my mind jumped from one topic to another.

I concentrated on the most interesting one: The voice I had heard. It had said 'come'. I had a feeling that it told me to go through the barrier. But was that voice friend or enemy? What if it belonged to that mask? How stupid! As if a mask, a non-living object made of wood, could talk!. But whose voice was it then? Talking about voices, there happened to be another one! Hearing it gave me a bad feeling, even though it had good news. „Congratulations, you passed the test. Now go on, new ways have opened." I could feel the darkness and all negative emotions the owner of the voice possessed, but there were too much so I could not tell what exactly they were about. However, I did not even understand a single word and I did not trust it either. Why should I bother going further, wherever I was supposed to go, if I had almost been killed when I had just arrived? I was hungry and thirsty and on top of that I already got sick of this isle. That was the answer! With that thought on my mind and the flame of anger burning up slightly within myself I felt asleep again, but this time it would be a dreamless rest.


End file.
